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Orphanage in Slutsk Striving for effective ministry among orphans, the Bible Society cooperates with the Christian churches, brotherhoods, and sisterhoods ministering to the inmates of the children’s home in Belarus. It is one thing when we provide an orphanage-based library with the Christian books, and quite another when we serve through the Christians working directly with the children. The second way is much more effective. Recently Fr. Mikhail the dean of the Saint-Mikhail Cathedral in the city of Slutsk applied to the Bible Society with an appeal for paying a joint visit to the orphanage in Slutsk. Anatoly Greben’ from the Bible Society shares his impressions about the trip: “By the time we arranged the visit Fr. Mikhail fell sick, and it was his daughter Angelina (photo, right) who accompanied me in this trip. The orphanage houses 130 orphans and children left without parental care. The kids gathered together in a spacious hall, and I told them about God’s love, about how important it is to read the Bible, to pray and obey His commandments. I also presented the books we brought as a gift for the library of the orphanage (photo, left). Then the children encircled me and began examining the books. They were interested and joyful. I came up to a boy named Sasha (photo, left) and asked him, “Where were you born? Where is your family?”. He said, “The orphanage is my family, though I have two brothers and a sister. My sister is here, and my two brothers are already set off for making their own life. I am 16, and it seems that I have lived here for all my life. My mother drinks hard and never visits me. My father left us for another family, but he and his new wife come to see me from time to time nevertheless. So does my granny. Here I am a leader of the republican youth organization unit. When we get together I read the lectures about the AIDS-prophylactic measures, we talk about smoking hazards” I ask him, “Sasha will you read the Bible?” Sasha smiles, “If I feel like doing that… ” The teacher Valentina Ivanauna (photo,right) steps in, “Some of the children attend the worship cervices in the Orthodox Cathedral. They were baptized and now take the sacrament. They are very interested in the Bible. Now that we have so many wonderful books from the Bible Society, I am sure even more children will become interested in spiritual matters”.